A recent post in a forum I frequent, reminded me that I totally forgot to include one of my favorite snakes in my recent Halloween blog. Few snakes are either this cool, or unusual.

Though discovered in 1846, this unique serpent, called Xenodermus javanicusby scientists, is very rare in the pet trade, and is still quite unknown, even amongst herpetologists. There is very limited information about this snake on-line or elsewhere, and its relative ambuguity, has led to several common names, adding to its mystery. Commonly called the Dragon snake, Javan Mudsnake and Tubercle Snake, this animal, found in Southeast Asia, and belongs to its own genus, meaning that it currently has no close relatives currently accepted by science.

Boring details aside, how amazing are the scales on this snake?!? It looks like a cross between a snake and a crocodilian, making it easy to see why some commonly call it the Dragon Snake.

The albino example of the Dragon snake above, does indicate that breeding projects do exist, and may indicate that this snake will become better known as more hobbyists observe the animal in captivity.

Here’s to mother nature for continuing to keep us on our toes! I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction to yet another intriguing animal, and asure you that there is more to come!

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cant figure out if this is a photoshopped picture. have yet to find any info anywhere on this reptile. would love to have one of my own, although without the scientific name being recognized ANYWHERE… i have a feeling this way be difficult

The snake is indeed real, and the photo unedited. These will certainly become more main stream – eventually. If you goole it, you’ll find more info now on these cool critters. There are at least twice as many articles now, as there were when I wrote this blog a year ago. And I think I heard rumor that a scientific name had been considered. Thanks for reading!

As far as I know, they are legal to own, but I have no idea if they are available in Australia or not. From what I have seen, very few are available for purchase anywhere, and those that are, are very expensive. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

“The albino example of the Dragon snake above, does indicate that breeding projects do exist,” actually this was a WC specimen imported by CPR, sadly Xenodermus javanicus have never been bred in captivity, even very experienced keepers struggle to keep them alive for longer than a few months.

Thanks for adding that information, Xenofan! Obviously, many snakes are best left in the wild, and we often do not realize the impact we have on a species when we collect it, and it does not thrive. We then look to replace the animal, and most species simply cannot recover quickly enough to not be negatively impacted by that kind of demand.